The HSE Sexual Health Programme held a half-day conference on Wednesday 19th February 2025 at The Ashling Hotel to launch new research by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). This research has found that while knowledge of the best method for preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is high among young people, knowledge of fertility is much lower. The research, funded by the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) Sexual Health Programme, draws on data from the 1998 Cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study, collected in 2018 when the young people were 20 years of age. These reports can be accessed here Research reports and publications – sexualwellbeing.ie
Further research finds that peer networks play a significant role in determining the age at which young people first have sex. Young men and women who rely on friends as a source of information about sex, who have larger and more age-diverse friendship networks, and who perceive that most of their friends are having sex, are all more likely to have sex earlier.
Key findings:
The first report ‘Sexual Health Literacy and Sexual Health Behaviours among Young Adults in Ireland’ examined the factors associated with sexual health literacy among young people, and condom and contraception use for those currently having sex:
- Knowledge of the best method for STI prevention is high among young people aged 20 (with over 80 per cent of young men and women correctly identifying condoms).
- Knowledge of fertility (specifically the period during the female menstrual cycle when pregnancy is most likely to occur) is much lower, with just 21 per cent of men, and 37 per cent of women, answering correctly.
- Approximately one-third of young men and women always use condoms when having sex.
- A significant minority (nearly 40 per cent of men, and 32 per cent of women) do not always use either condoms or other forms of contraception when having sex.
- While use of contraception at first sex is high (approximately 90 per cent), a significant proportion of those who are sexually active discontinue contraception use and are not using it currently (nearly 30 per cent of men and just over 20 per cent of women).
- Cognitive skill development (i.e., vocabulary skills at primary level and Leaving Certificate grades) is significantly related to sexual health literacy, especially among women.
- There was little evidence of an association between sexual health literacy and condom and contraception use. Much stronger associations are apparent for factors such as peer culture and relationship status. Being in a relationship is associated with a shift from condoms to other forms of contraception. Those whose peer group at age 17 were sexually active were less likely to use condoms or other forms of contraception, and were more likely to discontinue use over time.
The second report ‘Sexual Initiation and Sexual Health Behaviours among Young Adults in Ireland’ examined the factors associated with the timing, and circumstances, of first sex:
- Just over one-third of males and females first had sex by the age of 17, while a further 50 per cent first had sex before the age of 20. The remaining 15 per cent had not had sex by the age of 20.
- Young men and women who were more reliant on their friends for information about sex were significantly more likely to have sex earlier, as were those who had larger and more diverse (in terms of age composition) peer networks, and peers who themselves were having sex.
- Relying on a teacher as a source of information on sex and relationships was also associated with later sexual initiation.
- Approximately 90 per cent of young men and women used contraception when they first had sex. There was no relationship between age of first sex and contraception use at first sex.
- Young women were significantly more likely to express regret over the timing of first sex than young men (a quarter of young women thought that it had happened ‘too soon’, in contrast to 10 per cent of young men who thought it had happened ‘too soon’). Later age of sexual initiation was associated with a lower probability of perceiving that first sex had occurred ‘too soon’.